Reunion
by Karama9
Summary: Requested story by General Zargon. Storm Shadow and Billy reunited for the first time since Storm escaped Cobra, but unsurprisingly, the Universe somehow makes sure their reunion doesn't go smoothly. Contains violence, fluff, and a conspiracy theorist.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

Fluffy little piece, granting two requests in one! This is for Lady Jaye 1 and General Zargon (although Lady Jaye more inquired than requested, to be honest).

Takes place immediately after The Greenshirts and the Werewolf. I reproduced the epilogue of that here as a prologue so you don't have to go look it up. This is taking place in my usual AU, but as usual, I did my best to make sure you didn't actually need to have read any of my other stories to follow along.

Thanks to TM, Crystal and WillWrite4Fics for the feedback!

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

A week after the werewolf incident, Storm Shadow found himself sitting in Hawk's office, wondering what the kitchen staff could possibly have complained about to warrant the General calling him in – he had actually behaved, or at least he thought he had. Waiting to be told off while not knowing what he had done wrong forcibly reminded him of his teenage years, where he'd been sitting in the Hard Master's office on a regular basis, waiting to find out what he needed to apologize for. Granted, back then, it was more a matter of finding out what he'd be CAUGHT doing than what he had done.

Hawk finally looked up from the file he was reading to glare at him.

"I got the greenshirts' reports today," he growled. "The only reason you're still getting this assignment is because you're the only logical choice for it, especially with Snake Eyes and Scarlett on their way to California."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Sir?" he asked.

"The reason Cobra has been relatively quiet lately is that they've been very actively trying to locate and capture William; we've had to move him three times in the past month alone. I've reached the decision that if Cobra is going to know where he is anyway, he's better off here. He's your new assignment, Storm Shadow. You're going to go get him and he's going to stay here for a while, under your care."

Tommy grinned. Although it was arguably bad news that Cobra had almost found Billy on three occasions in just one month, he'd been trying for months to talk Hawk into letting the teen hide with him rather than with generic witness protection agents.

"About time," he said. "I mean, yes sir," he added under the glare Hawk gave him, throwing in a salute but not losing his grin.

"You need to understand this is strictly a temporary arrangement. As long as he's here, William's location is known and even with you around, he won't be as safe as when he's off Cobra's radar entirely."

"Understood; I'll help you find him new hiding places. I can locate some old friends who can look after him EVEN if Cobra turns up, and who can continue his training."

"You'll need to give me the details, we'll see if they're satisfactory. Here's the address." Hawk said, handing him a piece of paper. "Go get fitted with facial prosthetics and put on a non-white business suit, we don't want you to be recognized. And just in case you're wondering, you still have to do your remaining KP when you get back. I'm still debating whether to assign you more punishment duty, actually. Dismissed."

Storm Shadow read the address and gave the paper back to Hawk before saluting again, still grinning, and running off.

* * *

><p>Tommy stopped a few steps later, eyebrows raised slightly as an idea struck him. He ran back to Hawk's office and let himself in after a short knock.<p>

"Sorry, sir," he started. "I…"

Hawk chuckled. "Less than a minute. It's a shame I didn't bet."

The ninja cocked his head questioningly. "You knew I'd ask for backup?" he asked.

The general nodded, smirking. "Yes, and I also know you don't actually need any."

"I'm only thinking of how this will look on paper, seeing we'll have to report the pickup to the witness protection program."

"I'd be wasting the time of whoever I send."

"I can take a greenshirt."

"But you'll be wanting a Ranger, at least."

"Of course. Rangers lead the way," Storm Shadow said, puffing himself up just a little.

"Normanson is on leave and Ford was injured this morning."

"I know; they both missed advanced hand-to-hand this morning. Can I…?"

"You can take Thompson, but only if you also take another greenshirt."

Storm first grinned and then frowned questioningly. "Why? What good would THAT do?"

"Field test with a ninja. Stein has been here for over a month and she still seems nervous around you and Snake Eyes. Psyche Out is not sure just how uncomfortable she is, so a mission where she's not actually needed is an ideal test opportunity. If she doesn't relax and lets it interfere with this assignment, she's out. I'm doing you a favour, Storm Shadow, you do me one too. I'll be counting on a report from you."

The ninja shrugged. "No problem," he said. "But how did you know I'd want to take Thompson?"

Hawk chuckled. "Snake Eyes and Scarlett are always coming up with excuses NOT to teach the hand to hand classes, but YOU asked for the job and obviously enjoy it. Between that and your history, I've been expecting you to try and find yourself a second apprentice, and you made it clear last week that you had your sights set on our young conspiracy theorist. I won't let you force him, but if he's interested, I have no objection to having another ninja on the team."

Storm Shadow made a face at being read so easily, but since it was getting him what he wanted, complaining seemed counterproductive.

"I have no intention to impose the training," he said instead.

"I'll send word to both of them, they will meet you in the motor pool. Dismissed. Again."

Storm Shadow saluted and took off again.

* * *

><p>Storm Shadow had plenty of time to marvel on the nature of nervousness while his facial prosthetics and make-up were being applied.<p>

He was not a shy person - rather the opposite. He had never in his life been wary at all of meeting new people, and not only did he not care about what others may think of him, he knew for a fact that anybody he met would think of him what he wanted them to: he could charm the pants off anybody if he tried, or terrorize them, or inspire awe and respect. He liked meeting new people, and he knew that those who knew him best would say that was because he liked having more people paying him attention. He couldn't exactly deny it, and he was quite comfortable with the idea. He'd been the center of attention since his childhood; he was so used to it that anything else felt out of place unless he was actively trying to hide or go unnoticed. Like now, for instance: the idea was for nobody to recognize him and to not attract any attention at the airport, so he was disguising himself and would be the picture of discretion.

He was also very happy that he'd see Billy again. Hawk's reassurances only went so far to put his mind to rest - he knew his apprentice was alive and well, but he didn't know how well his leg was working, how affected his balance and skills were by the artificial limb and the loss of his eye, and above all, he didn't know what state the teenager's mind was in. Billy was fifteen by now, and he'd been through more than most people endured within a lifetime. It would be good to see for himself how he was dealing with it all and more than that, it'd be good to be able to help again if need be.

At the very least, he'd be able to start his training again, and therefore help him find focus once more. All very good things.

And yet he was nervous. It wasn't overwhelming, far from it, but he couldn't seem to get rid of it. He understood why the slight discomfort was there, but the reasons he had identified only made him feel sillier.

He wasn't shy, he liked meeting new people, and he knew he had perfect control over those people's impression of him. Given that, the fact that Billy had only ever known him brainwashed, and would therefore technically be meeting him for the first time as himself, should not matter at all.

His mind tried to delve into why it did, but he scowled internally at himself, told his inner Psyche-Out to shut up, and started busying himself thinking of potential teachers for Billy and what he'd be able to teach him himself while he stayed here, which he assumed would not be for very long at all.

Satisfied with this much more effective use of his thinking time, he rigidly kept at it while the dark grey suit he was using as a disguise was being tailored on him.

* * *

><p>Thompson was standing stiffly by Duke when Storm Shadow arrived at the motor pool. Stein swallowed nervously when she saw him and somehow went even stiffer than her fellow greenshirt.<p>

Duke nodded at them all when Storm reached them. "As instructed," he said. "Storm, you're in charge of this team and of their safety; this is NOT a high priority mission. Got it?"

Tommy's jaw clenched at the implication he'd put anybody else than himself at risk if things somehow got hairy. "Of course," he said, keeping his voice as neutral as he could. "I'll take good care of the greenies," he added with a smirk, disguising the urge to tell off the First Sergeant for insulting him, "don't you worry."

Duke nodded before walking off.

Storm Shadow glared after him and gestured the two greenshirts in the car they were to use. Stein rushed to the back seat and Thompson, after a quick deliberation, grudgingly climbed in the front passenger seat. Storm Shadow climbed into the driver side, whistling happily.

Stein stared very intently at the back of Thompson's seat, breathing as quietly as she could and hoping her heartbeat was not annoying, from the moment the ninja climbed in. Thompson, for his part, resolutely kept his eyes pointing straight ahead, and maintained the position – blinks excepted – right until they passed the security gate.

"Okay," he said, turning his gaze square towards the ninja. "What do you want? I ALREADY apologized to Snake Eyes!"

Stein's pulse shot up as she envisioned Thompson's innards getting splattered all over the inside of the car. Storm Shadow grinned. "Ah, you were waiting to be off base and out of sight of most anyone in the team," he said. "I was wondering whether you had decided to further emulate Snake Eyes by becoming mute. Relax, Stein; I wouldn't kill a fellow Joe."

Stein forced herself to relax. She knew she served no purpose on this mission – whether even the commando greenshirt did was debatable as far as she was concerned – and so, could imagine this was a test for her.

Thompson's eyes narrowed and his upper lip started curling up in a snarl. "What do you want? Why did you ask for me?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you." Tommy glanced sideways at the younger man, one eyebrow raised. "You know, I sort of expected you to figure that much out by yourself."

"Why?" Thompson asked. "You want to know how much truth there was to the World Order stuff Cobra made you believe?"

Storm Shadow barked a laugh. The question was funny in itself, but the incredulous, hopeful tone just made it. Thompson was obviously quite willing to discuss that particular subject.

"No," he chuckled. "Although I'll admit I can sympathise with your worldview. Are you still sore over the whole werewolf thing? You heard what I told Hawk, it was simply the best way for me to deal with the situation."

The glare Tommy got was answer enough.

"I kept you four from actually harming Snake Eyes or Timber. The way I see it, I did you a favour."

Thompson's eyes went wide. "You are SO full of…"

"Well, all right, maybe not. Still, I was acting for the greater good. And by the way, you're being rather mean towards poor Stein. You keep giving her reason to think I might go insane with rage and do something painful, lethal or both to you."

Thompson rolled his eyes and started staring out of his window again, giving the landscape a very icy glare. "For crying out loud, Stein, he's a pain in the ass, but a loyal one. Are you in tomorrow's exercise?" he added in an obvious attempt at redirecting the conversation.

"What, getting bored with me already?" Storm Shadow chuckled before Stein could answer. "Oh, alright, I'll get to the point. I think you have potential, so if you're interested, I will train you."

Thompson's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs and he turned to Storm Shadow again.

"Say what? Actually, don't. No need. You want me to be your apprentice too, like the Commander's kid? No way. NO. WAY. Thanks, but no thanks. Not interested." He cursed and went back to looking out his window. Just his luck that someone would actually offer him ninja training, but that the someone in question would be Storm Shadow. He would have accepted in a heartbeat if Snake Eyes had made the offer, but then Snake Eyes, unlike the ex-Cobra, was trustworthy. "No. I'm so NOT studying under you."

"Yes, I figured you'd say that, seeing you're still angry about my keeping you from hurting a defenceless animal," Storm Shadow said, still sounding a bit disappointed. "Just think on it, it's not a limited time offer. And you're about the same age Snake Eyes was when HE started training."

Thompson's head whipped back towards the ninja before he could help himself. This was completely new information to him; he had been assuming Snake Eyes had trained pretty much all his life. Stein snorted at his reaction before slamming a hand on her mouth. Thompson shot her a dirty look and narrowed his eyes at Storm Shadow again.

"We get the kid, then come back, right? How far's the safe house?"

"Other end of town," Storm Shadow replied. "I'd say we still have nearly half an hour to chat."

Thompson clenched his jaw and resumed staring out of his window. As if to mock him, the heavy clouds that had been threatening rain ever since they left finally broke. The rain quickly intensified, blurring the landscape and making it harder to look at.

"Make that an hour," Storm Shadow said, scowling at the delay as he was forced to slow down to a safe speed.

Thompson cursed under his breath. "So, Stein, I didn't catch your answer?"

Storm Shadow concentrated on the road and let Thompson help Stein relax with small talk. It wasn't much good trying to continue talking to him right now anyway, the conspiracy theorist would likely just grow even more annoyed.

* * *

><p>The man known to his employer and associates as Watcher 4 suddenly got his feet off his desk and back on the floor and leaned towards the appropriate monitor when one of the several feeds he was watching showed a young man walking into one of WPP house he was monitoring.<p>

He made the remote controlled camera placed on a tall tree two houses over zoom in as much as it could and grinned. Despite the heavy rain, there was no mistaking the teenager: the eye patch, which the boy had been wearing since their last meeting had left him wanting an eye, over three years ago, was a dead giveaway. He had certainly grown quite a lot, and had lost the baby fat, but all that was to be expected: he wasn't 11 anymore, after all, he had gone from kid to teenager.

Watcher 4 picked up the direct line phone to his boss.

"Found Tony Junior," he said, grinning at the phone. This was going to earn him a nice bonus: the boss had been looking for the kid for three years now.

There was silence at the other end for a few seconds, then a sigh of relief. "Finally," his boss said. "Residential?"

"Yeah, house number four," Watcher 4 said. "Want me to send the Silent Team?"

"Immediately. And make sure they get the information from whoever picks him up!"

"Yes boss," Watcher 4 replied. "What if the pickup doesn't know? I know he's been picked up by Tony's men before, but that was a while ago. What if it's actual Secret Services nowadays?"

"They'll still know," his boss said. "Even if he's picked up by a Fed, it'll be a fed on Tony's payroll. And if not, well, Tony's just going to have to mourn from his luxury snitch jail cell, isn't he? I'll be pretty happy either way. Get on it, now."

The boss hung up. Watcher 4 immediately called the Silent Team, and reminded them very carefully that the kid was to be used to make his pickup disclose where Tony had stashed the money, and that if the pickup didn't say, for whatever reason, the hostage was to be eliminated. The Silent Team's representative, much to Watcher 4's satisfaction, got the hint and immediately confirmed they would use the standard and proven strategy of poisoning the hostage and demand the information for the antidote.

That settled, Watcher 4 figured he deserved a break and turned one of the monitors to the baseball game.

* * *

><p>Billy sighed and stretched in his chair, leaving the book on the Japanese Feudal Era he'd been reading opened on his lap.<p>

"That looks like a pretty heavy read," the agent in charge of this particular safe house said. He had introduced himself as Mr Andrews. "Homework?"

Billy shook his head. "Personal interest," he said. "When did you say the pickup was, again?"

"Could be anytime between now and dinner time," the man answered. "Do you know where you're going next?"

Billy shook his head and shrugged. "They never tell me. Doesn't matter much, anyway, lately I never get to stay anywhere much more than a week."

"You were located?" the man asked, his eyebrows raised. "And several times? I'm very sorry."

Billy shrugged again and picked up his book. He shouldn't have said anything, he couldn't stand it when people went all sympathetic on him. He hated the situation enough, he hardly needed everyone to remind him how bad it was by looking horrified upon hearing about just part of it.

The doorbell finally rang about three quarters of an hour later. Billy put his book back in his bag and got up, ready to go. 'Mr Andrews' opened the door and let six men came in.

Billy's brow furrowed: that was certainly unusual. Mr Andrews seemed to think so as well.

"Why is there six of you?" he said. "Show me yourrrr…"

His last word died in a small groan and he collapsed, his throat slit. The man who had done the deed did not get to see his victim fall, his face suddenly making contact with a rather heavy and fast backpack. Less than a second later, before the bag even fell back to the floor, his knife was wrenched from his fingers.

Billy was furious with himself: he shouldn't have waited to see a weapon, he should have acted as soon as the six men had come in and apologize later if they had somehow turned out to be legit. He forced the regrets out of his mind by redirecting his anger at the six men; he used the knife he had just grabbed and extended its owner the same courtesy said owner had shown Mr Andrew. He then rolled sideways to avoid whatever weapon may be aiming for him and slashed a few ankles that happened to be within reach before springing back to his feet and jumping back towards the group.

As he had hoped, the five men had been expecting him to try and run, despite the fact they were standing in the closest possible exit and the only one Billy could realistically aim for and hope to reach before being shot in the back, and were unprepared for him to attack. He stabbed the closest one in the chest and kicked at a third one, but the other two managed to get behind him and grabbed him. He felt a prick on his neck and the room went black almost instantly.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

Confused? All will be explained in part 2. But just to confirm, yes, Billy is being mistaken for someone called Tony Junior.

Thank you for reading, and please review!


	2. Chapter 2

"1053, right?" Stein asked, looking out her window. What with the fact she was riding with a ninja and crazy Thompson, and with the obvious tension between the two not helping matters any, she was more than a little eager to arrive. "Just a few more houses… huh? That's odd, it looks like there are agents there already. See the two black cars? Much nicer than the other ones around…"

Thompson cursed. "Storm Shadow," he said urgently, "they're Hyundais. NOT government. But Cobra doesn't use off-the-line vehicles…" he trailed off, clearly at a loss.

"Hush," Storm Shadow instructed.

He parked the car in front of the house, right under a large tree that provided shelter from the rain, and got out, taking out his cell phone and pretending to consult it for something while listening intently, focusing on the people inside the safe house. He isolated the pulses and breathing patterns one by one, increasingly worried, until he finally found Billy's.

Not having the time to carefully consider all the scenarios, he was reduced to hope Billy was still alive because whoever was holding him wanted something from the people they expected to pick him up. If that was the case, talking and negotiating were more likely than immediate violence so long as they played dumb. He turned back to the car and waved the two greenshirts out.

"That's the place," he called out, smiling encouragingly and hoping the two would realize they were to play along. "Come on."

They did: they got out of the car and followed Tommy to the door, looking as casual as they could. Storm Shadow kept his ears peeled, attentive to any out of place noise, dearly wishing he'd come alone after all. He'd only made the two greenshirts follow so they wouldn't be sitting ducks inside an un-armoured car and because the car leaving without him and Billy would have made it far too obvious they suspected foul play.

Someone opened the door before he even rang and gestured all three of them inside. Billy was solidly tied down and a second man was just pulling back from him with an empty needle. Two more men were in the room, and four more in the next room, hidden from sight but not from his ears.

Storm Shadow picked up a change in Billy's pulse and grabbed the closest man in a choke hold, lifting him a few inches off the ground.

"What was that?" he growled. The man he was holding gurgled, kicking ineffectually.

"Poison," the man who had injected Billy said in a heavy Japanese accent. "I have the antidote, but if you want the son of your boss to live, you tell me where Vizzori hide the loot before he go to jail."

"Tony Vizzori?" Thompson asked from behind him. "You idiots have the wrong kid! He's not a Vizzori, and we have no clue where the money is!"

That was explanation enough for Storm Shadow. Billy's pulse was nowhere near alarming yet, and the poison had to keep him alive long enough for him to disclose what the men had been hired to find out, so he had time to give them one chance of surviving their meeting.

"I have no idea what loot you're talking about," he said, releasing the man he had been holding to pull up his right sleeve, revealing his tattoo. The men certainly seemed Japanese, so he was guessing they were hired yakuzas – in which case they would recognize his clan's symbol. Confirming his guess, the pulse of the four men in the room picked up right away at the sight.

"I'm the Young Master of the Arashikage clan, this boy is my apprentice and if you want to live, you will give me the antidote AND the poison, now."

Two of the men paled, but the one who had injected Billy just snorted. "I think you bluff," he said. "Talk, or Tony Junior dies and YOU tell your boss how you…"

The man was interrupted by a shuriken slashing through his throat. Unlike the safe house owner earlier, he didn't even manage a gurgle before crumbling to the ground. The man on the other side of Billy fell lifeless as well, with an identical injury.

"Stein, duck! Thompson, no gun!" Storm Shadow instructed even as he threw two knives at the other two men in the room, burying them entirely between their eyes and instantly killing them. The yakuzas were using silent weapons, and if they did too, they could avoid the authorities broadcasting that something was going on and possibly attracting all the wrong attention.

He had time to note that Stein was frozen in place, then Thompson was diving towards her. He redirected his attention to the other room. Two men were now emerging in the doorway, running towards him, each with a sword in each hand. The other two were still behind the wall, possibly intent on giving up discretion and firing right through said wall.

Storm Shadow stopped and gave the two men in the door a worried look. As he expected, they responded by attacking, slashing their swords in his direction much too slowly to even qualify as a threat: he avoided two of the blades and caught the other two between the thumb and fingers of each hand. He flicked the weapons out of their owner's grips, caught them in the air, and used them to slice both men in half diagonally before jumping through the door and trusting the blades in the hearts of the last two men, who had indeed started to take out their guns but never got a chance to even get close to firing them.

Thompson blinked as he got up from pushing Stein to the floor: the fight was already over, he guessed within about fifteen seconds. Stein noticed too and screamed, struggling to get out from under him and away from Storm Shadow.

"What's WRONG with you?" Thompson demanded, pinning her down. "We don't want to be on the 6 o'clock news, so shut up!" He idly wondered how they were going to avoid that now, with eight bodies laying around, but he did know that screaming was not going to help.

"U… United Nations…", she babbled, "he's the same, he's just the same… ninjas... not human… LET ME GO!"

Tommy heard her scream, but pushed it aside for later consideration, busy searching the body of the man who'd shot the poison into Billy; he was looking for both the empty needle and the claimed antidote. He finally relaxed a bit upon finding both in the same breast pocket.

Stein was still screaming - through Thompson's arm by now - about how dangerous he was and how it was the United Nations all over again. He could guess she'd been there on the day Cobra had attacked a conference; he'd been brainwashed at the time into believing the army was working for his family's murderers - the World Order - and had been particularly murderous. He could also guess that until seeing him in action triggered her current crisis, she had exerted a remarkable level of control to appear merely nervous around Snake Eyes and him; enough control to fool Psyche Out into thinking there was a chance she'd be able to work with ninjas in general and him in particular.

Storm Shadow pushed the thought that her phobia –and its consequences on her career prospects with GI Joe - was his fault aside and continued to ignore her; he needed to figure out what he'd need to do with Billy before he could decide what to do with her. He broke the needle that had been filled with poison and tipped it over his thumb, collecting a tiny leftover drop. He deposited that drop on his tongue and relaxed a bit. He recognized the taste of the poison: it was the same one yakuzas used most of the time, and he had the antidote on him.

He discarded the antidote the man had had, not trusting that it was actually real, and fished his own out of one of his pockets. He cut Billy's ties loose to sit him up and dipped the antidote in his mouth, forcing the unconscious teen to swallow by rubbing his throat. He relaxed a bit more: his apprentice's life signs were still nearly normal, proving the poison had not done much damage yet.

He finally turned back to the two greenshirts, just in time for Thompson to hiss and curse under his breath, following Stein biting him. Storm Shadow smiled: the young ranger still did not move his arm.

"Stein," he started. "Calm down. Listen to me. I…" he trailed off, not quite sure what to say, especially considering that Stein had started trashing and screaming with even more energy upon his addressing her.

"Give it up," Thompson advised. "We've all been briefed on the brainwash thing, why do you think most of the greenshirts DON'T freak out when they hear about those years? Hit her sleeping point or something and let's get back to the Pit."

Stein bucked more than ever and her screams turned into begging Thompson not to let the ninja near her. Storm Shadow sighed and moved to follow Thompson's suggestion, but stopped in his track and whipped his head around to Billy; his apprentice's pulse had just shot way up. Almost simultaneously, the teenager let out a scream and curled up into a ball.

Tommy dashed back to him and pressed his sleeping point, attempting to force sleep. There was no effect whatsoever, other than Billy yelping and throwing himself in the opposite direction before curling up again, shivering. Storm Shadow cursed under his breath and gathered the ropes he had cut a minute earlier.

"Are you sure you're not related?" Thompson asked. "He's just as much trouble as you, by the looks of it. What are the odds of an extreme adverse reaction to an antidote? And in the same day he got confused for Tony Vizzori Jr?"

"He was also unknowingly selected, among many other volunteers, to shoot the Cobra Commander, while he had blocked the memory that the man was his father," Storm Shadow said while tying Billy up. "As for the antidote, that reaction is actually not all that rare for this particular formula; this sort of thing happens about one time out of ten. I really should have expected it, considering."

Thompson watched without anymore comments, somewhat amused: the ninja looked more like he was wrestling a rabid wolverine than tying up a sick teenager. Thanks to the fact Storm Shadow had quickly gagged him, the kid even sounded more like an animal than a human being.

Once he finally had Billy tied solidly again, Storm Shadow got up and turned to Thompson and Stein; she was still screaming in her fellow greenshirt's arm and trying to get out from under him. Behind him, Billy almost immediately started to whimper in pain as he trashed around. Tommy sighed, turned around and cut the ropes off again.

"Snakes!" Billy screamed at the ropes through his gag, backing away in blind panic.

"What are you doing, cutting him loose again?" Thompson roared.

"Look at him," Storm Shadow answered, pointing at the curled up boy.

Thompson's eyes widened: Billy's pale shirt was worn through in spots, and stained red everywhere the ropes had been.

"They do that sometimes," Storm Shadow said. "The adrenalin high gives them the strength to really push against the ropes, and they're in such a panic that they don't really notice the pain."

He moved back to Stein, ignoring her increasingly desperate cries, and pinched her sleeping point. She slumped to the floor immediately. Thompson got off, making a face at the spot where she had bit him.

"You don't look all that worried, so I'm guessing this just wears itself out?" he asked.

"It usually takes a bit less than an hour," Storm Shadow confirmed. "Bring Stein back to the Pit, he could become violent and you two are of no use to me if she's so agitated that all you can do is hold her down."

"You're just going to stay here and wait it out?"

Tommy shrugged. "He can't be transported right now, and I'd still rather avoid attracting attention. Besides, even if none of that was an issue, a hospital wouldn't be able to do any more for him at this point than I can. Call the Pit on the safe line when you get back to the car and send Doc here. Be as cryptic as you can, just in case, and make sure Doc is sent, not Lifeline – I may need someone who won't refuse to fight the patient a bit."

"What are you doing about the bodies?"

"I'm assuming you're going to give Hawk a full report when you get to base, and that he'll have a firm opinion on that matter. In the meantime, I'll just move them if they become an issue. Get going, we don't know when these men were supposed to report in and I want you both gone before anyone else shows up," Storm Shadow said, tossing the younger Ranger the keys to the car.

Thompson frowned as he caught them. "Why?"

Storm Shadow scowled at him. He could hear gunfire all around that he knew only existed in his head, the light in the room was looking more and more like natural sunlight, and the longer Stein stayed here, the more likely he was to completely become lost in what was obviously a rapidly developing full blown flashback. He hadn't had one of those in months, but there was no mistaking the phantom sounds and sights. He needed both greenshirts out of here – unlike Billy, he did not have an oath to protect them that had already proven to be strong enough to bring him back to reality. Not that it'd come to that: with Stein gone, he was confident he'd be able to ward off the flashback.

"I told you," he said irritably, "the pair of you are of no use to me at the moment. If I have to fight off more yakuzas, I'd much rather only have one dead weight to shield from the attackers. Now get going!"

Thompson's eyes narrowed.

"You're following Duke's orders," he stated. "You're sending us both to safety even though I COULD be useful now that SHE's out."

"You have YOUR orders, Thompson," Storm Shadow growled.

"Yes, Sergeant," Thompson answered flatly. He picked up Stein in a cradle hold, got out and walked back quickly to the car, thinking up a cover story as he walked in case anyone spotted him and asked questions.

* * *

><p>Storm Shadow leaned against the wall, holding his head and scanning the room for something real to focus on in a bid to keep his mind from wandering into the past. The strategy backfired as his eyes first fell on the bodies of the yakuzas. Stein's panicked screams filled his ears again, quickly mutating into the noises of the battle at the United Nations as the dead yakuzas became dozens of dead soldiers.<p>

He resisted the urge to squeeze his eyes shut and to press his hands against his ears to block the sights and sounds: doing that only ever made things worse. Somewhere among the sound of guns firing and hearts stopping all around him, he heard Billy whimpering about a giant snake and grimly thought that his apprentice ought to worry about the Order more than about Cobra.

He groaned: the Order was the made-up enemy the Commander had provided him with as part of his reconditioning. He had believed in the evil world controlling organization, opposed by the righteous Cobra, for three years. He had met Billy during that period, and the two of them had spent a lot of energy trying to make the other see what they each saw as the truth.

He cursed under his breath and simultaneously fixed his eyes on the boy while focusing on the drug-accelerated pulse, breathing, and the assortment of whimpers, screams and moans Billy was letting out. He had removed his gag at some point – exactly when, Storm Shadow had no idea – but he was mercifully not screaming anymore.

Focus; he needed to focus and help Billy as well as he could before his apprentice lost it enough to really hurt himself. This was not a good time to dwell on the past.

Billy caught a glance of him and yelped again, trying to back away further but stopped by the wall. Tommy cocked his head, momentarily shocked before he remembered he was wearing facial prosthetics.

He ripped them off and tried to approach Billy again. The teenager's eye widened, making him look younger than he was. The impression was further accentuated when he spoke.

"Dad?" he said in an unbelieving tone.

Tommy stopped in his track and swallowed. That… was unexpected. He didn't think he could pull off pretending to be the Commander, even if he managed to make himself try.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

Anyone who guessed those guys in the house would have a serious problem when Stormy got there, I'd congratulate you but… well, was there any doubt at all?

Third and last part will be up shortly. Thanks for reading, and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Billy didn't give Storm Shadow the luxury of thinking about it: he got up and tackled him in a hug. Tommy returned it, fighting back the irritation at Billy showing affection for a father who had tried to brainwash his own son into an obedient slave. The boy was delirious, he could hardly be expected to act or think rationally.

Billy was so relieved that the complete confusion he was in barely registered. He wasn't so confused as to not recognize the short but deadly looking Japanese man: his father was here, and he was okay.

"You're okay again," he mumbled against the man's shoulder.

The memory of why this person was okay again, as opposed to having been okay all along, poked at the edge of his mind. Someone else was doing something… his eye widened when the fact his father had been doing something clicked in. Something horrible, to someone he cared about… it was fuzzy, but he remembered enough. What was he doing hugging him? He hated him, he wanted him to leave them alone.

He brutally pulled away from the Commander, frowning and throwing a punch. "Leave him alone!" he shouted. "Leave US alone!"

Tommy blocked the punch, trying hard not to wonder what Billy was talking about; it wasn't important, it was all just delirium. But who did Billy want his father to leave alone? Him? Or had his apprentice just recognized him? Was Billy asking him to leave the Commander alone?

Billy's eye narrowed in concentration when his hit was blocked. That had been pathetic; he needed to do better than that if he didn't want his sensei to start demonstrating better punches. He blinked and shook his head a bit.

That was Sensei… and he wasn't attacking him, and he looked completely normal! He backed up, trying to think.

Tommy let Billy back away, listening intently to his pulse: it was slowing down, the boy was growing calmer. Billy huddled against the wall again and for several minutes, did nothing but rock himself, his eye closed tightly. Tommy let him to it, figuring his apprentice was trying to piece reality back together and not wanting to disturb him.

The strategy seemed to pay off; Billy eventually lifted his head back towards him in a fairly calm fashion. However, that calm evaporated instantly once the teenager saw him.

Billy's jaw dropped and his breath caught. Of all the people he hadn't expected to see here… actually, he hadn't expected to see this person ever again. He remembered the ninja erupting into Mindbender's lab and freeing him from the machine, screaming at him to run and leave him behind. He remembered his rescuer collapsing almost immediately, and he remembered following the order and fleeing, because… he could not remember why he'd done it. He couldn't even remember why Storm Shadow had collapsed, although he thought he knew back then. Whatever the reasons, however, he'd left him behind, at the mercy of Cobra. He didn't think he'd ever forgive himself for it; up to this moment, he thought he had condemned his sensei to a fate worse than death. "Tommy?" he croaked. "How…?"

He let the question die. How didn't matter, he couldn't remember ever being so happy. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, it felt like he could fly if he just tried.

"You… you escaped too!" he babbled, throwing himself against Tommy with no recollection of having done the same thing minutes earlier. "I'm so sorry… I didn't want to leave, I don't know why I did…"

This time, Tommy could easily guess what Billy was talking about: he knew he was giving a difficult order back then, and had been incredibly relieved when he'd found out Billy had followed it.

"If you hadn't, we'd both still be there," he said soothingly. "It's okay, we're both free. We're safe, you can relax."

Billy tensed up and straightened up, looking deadly serious. "I'm not doing that again," he said. "We're getting out together this time."

Tommy held back a sigh, but before he could try and reassure Billy again, the teenager's eye widened in horror, fixed on a chair in the living room.

Billy gulped and applied all his willpower to staying calm. He finally recognized where he was; this was Mindbender's lab. The brainwave scanner was right there in front of them, not even disguised.

He turned to Storm Shadow to grab his wrist, but suddenly noted the pulse of his companion and jerked away: it was all wrong. The man wasn't Storm Shadow. Logic dictated it could only be Mindbender.

He yelped in shock and backed off as quickly as he could, but he tripped on something and suddenly found himself being held to the ground by a crimson guardsman. All thoughts of trying to stay calm evaporated as he pictured himself back in the brainwave scanner, the searing pain ripping his mind apart. He started trashing madly and screaming for help.

Storm Shadow clenched his jaw: he couldn't let Billy scream like that for any length of time and hope not to alarm the whole world to their presence here, and he was still quite set on not doing that. He hurried to his apprentice's side and muzzled him with his arm while getting him back up from the corpse he'd fallen on.

"Billy, it's alright," he whispered slowly, trying to make his voice as calming as he could. "We've already escaped. Everything's fine."

"Sensei?" Billy mumbled through his arm.

Tommy frowned: Billy was not calming down, even though he obviously recognized him. "Yes, it's me," he said. "It's okay, there is no danger here. Relax. I know everything's very confusing right now, but you're safe. Trust me."

Billy felt his heart sink; the only reason Sensei would insist they were safe was if he was being deluded into thinking that they were. Unless he had simply been ordered to and was too much out of his mind to even know what he was saying and who he was talking to.

"Sensei…" he groaned in the arm. "We're not safe at all. Listen to me. We…"

He stopped mid sentence and his eyebrows shot up: Snake Eyes had just dropped from the ceiling. Storm Shadow's sword brother and best friend, but also the person who had tried to kill him at least once and who often injured him. The black apparition took out a gun and gestured Storm Shadow to release him.

Billy yelled at him not to shoot; that Storm Shadow was not trying to hurt him; that they needed help. What came out was an incoherent mumble which made no impression on the UZI wielding ninja. Tommy's hold on him tightened and he started telling him there was no danger again and that there was nobody there.

That answered Billy's question on what state his sensei's head was in: clearly, he was completely out of it not to see his own friend standing right there with a gun aimed straight at him.

The teenager started trashing wildly, desperately trying to speak clearly through the arm, but to no avail. He heard a rattling thunder, felt something hot whip by his face, and the arms holding him went limp. He turned to Storm Shadow, intent on doing whatever he could to save him, but there was nothing to be done: the flesh was already melting and within seconds, there was nothing left but a skeleton.

Billy's mind went blank. He wasn't sure how long he blacked out, but when his senses came back, he was curled in a ball next to Tommy's corpse. Snake Eyes was in the corner, just standing there, with nothing more to do now that he had murdered a man who loved him like a brother. A growl rose in the grieving teenager's throat and he sprang at his sensei's assassin.

Storm Shadow's eyes widened when Billy, who had suddenly curled into an unresponsive ball several minutes earlier, jumped up and tackled the floor lamp in the corner.

"MURDERER!" the teenager screamed, kicking at the lamp and 'strangling' it. "How could you? He was your brother! And you killed him! He's more my father than the Commander ever was and YOU. KILLED. HIM!"

Tommy swallowed, blinked, shook his head to make himself concentrate on the matter at hand and dragged Billy away from the lamp before his apprentice could manage to electrocute himself, or break his fingers or toes punching and kicking said lamp.

The movement seemed to snap Billy out of his current delusion and straight into another one. The young man went limp for a second, but then tensed again and started screaming about a snake again, pointing at the lamp's cord. Even while his mentor was holding him, he got as close as he could to a fighting stance and started telling off the cord, pulling away with all his strength. Tommy turned them around to make the teenager face away from the cord. The struggle immediately stopped.

"Wh… what?" Billy stuttered, looking at the corpses of the six yakuzas. "Sensei? Did you…?"

"Yes," Storm Shadow said. "They poisoned you and demanded a piece of information I didn't have in exchange for the antidote. I tried to scare them into surrendering it, but it didn't work. They're criminals, Billy; hired killers and goons. They don't deserve your pity."

"Please tell me they weren't soldiers sent by the Order?"

Storm Shadow bit his lips – he was getting rather tired of the Order recalling itself to his mind today. Billy's tone made it clear, however, just was delusion the boy was fighting now: he could recognize him, but he thought him still brainwashed like he had been when he'd been training him. Guessing that denying it would either have no result or make Billy sink into a more violent or distressing hallucination, he quickly decided to try and bring Billy back to reality by making this fantasy coincide with it.

"I wish," he lied. "I suspect the Order enjoys the fact people like this exist, because they help scare everyone else into accepting whatever authorities are put in place in exchange for some protection. But other than that, they're an entirely different variety of scum."

He let go of Billy when the teenager sighed heavily. His apprentice turned to him with an expression mixing exasperation and pity.

"No they don't," he said, "because they don't exist. The Order DOESN'T EXIST! Cobra just made you think they did, and that they were the good guys fighting them, so you'd help them!"

Tommy resisted smirking: the speech was nowhere near Billy's usual standards, reflecting that the young man was not exactly thinking straight, but he had also just been struck with the idea that if Thompson had stayed, the conspiracy theorist would probably have been unable to resist 'correcting' the teenager on the existence of the Order and their actions.

Back in the days of Billy's training in the water tower, Tommy would have usually started explaining, at that point, that the Order had to exist because they had eradicated his whole family. Today, however, he needed to let his apprentice win the argument to bring the boy back to reality.

"And you think Cobra is sending those fake memories?" he asked. "Just to erase them whenever I ask? That makes no sense."

"They're not fake!" Billy said, gesticulating in a salesman-like enthusiasm. "They're your real memories! Nobody's sending them, they're just resurfacing! And Cobra is all too happy to erase them because if you remembered everything, you'd be fighting THEM!"

Tommy widened his eyes and let his mouth drop open, acting like the truth had finally pierced and the shock was rendering him speechless. He kept it up for exactly two seconds before grasping his head and letting out a whimper. He then gave his head a vigorous shake and met Billy's eye again.

"I remember," he said in a low whisper. He grunted again and fell to his knees.

Billy's heart skipped a beat and he barely held back a scream of triumph. He wasn't sure why, but he thought his sensei had gone through some pain to make him be quiet just a bit earlier, when they were still captive. He frowned, puzzled: when had that been? He couldn't remember now.

Tommy clenched his jaw when his apprentice looked confused for a moment and then acquired a blank expression again: he expected the teenager to go back into the foetal position any second, and there was no telling whether the young man's brains would actually piece things together correctly this time or just come up with a new delusion.

Billy wrapped his arms around his knees, but not nearly as tightly as before, and only rocked himself slightly. Tommy sat a few feet in front of him, so as not to crowd him while still being right by him when he became aware of his surroundings again. He glanced at his watch: it had been about an hour since he had made his apprentice swallow the antidote, and the boy's stance certainly seemed less tense than the other times he'd blocked out the outside world. Things were looking promising.

As soon as he allowed himself to hope his apprentice would soon be over the hallucinations and delirium, the nervousness Storm Shadow had felt earlier in the day returned, stronger than ever. He sighed; he couldn't pretend to know what had been going through Billy's mind in the last hour, but he did know what the rant to the lamp had made him conclude, and although he could not be certain the conclusion was right, he did know for a fact that he had reached it because it mirrored his own feelings.

If his guess was right, Billy had thought the lamp had killed him; he was the one seen as more of a father than the Commander. If he assumed that much, the rest of Billy's actions in the last hour fitted nicely with the idea that the delirious teen was getting confused between the Commander and himself because he was identifying both of them as his father.

He knew his guess could be wrong: there was a good chance that there was no underlying sense to what Billy had been doing and saying. It didn't make any difference to how he felt about it, however. When the thought had first struck him, he hadn't been vaguely touched and slightly annoyed, like a teacher might towards an overly affectionate student; instead, he'd gone through surprise, relief, and now something uncomfortably close to fear.

He could cite rules and traditions on apprenticeship, on the roles and responsibilities of a sensei, all he wanted; those things only partly explained his feelings. When it had seemed like Billy was trying to avenge his imagined murder by viciously attacking a floor lamp, and when the young man had stated that he was a father to him, it had felt like finding out his own feelings were reciprocated.

Perhaps just as importantly, it had made him aware of the nature of said feelings: at some point while they had been hiding from Cobra and the non-existent Order, his apprentice had become more of a foster son.

So now, Storm Shadow was worried to find out that his guess was wrong, worried that Billy might not even be so much as happy to see him. Alternatively, he was also worried that Billy might be attached to the sensei he knew, but that the real, un-brainwashed but unarguably damaged version he'd meet now would not measure up.

It was pure foolishness, and the ninja was beyond irritated with himself for it. Being irritated, however, really didn't change anything.

* * *

><p>Billy stopped rocking when he became aware he was doing it. He felt as though his brains had been put in a blender, and he vaguely remembered a lot of things that made no sense at all. He could hear someone just a few feet from him… whoever it was reminded him of Storm Shadow. Suddenly thinking that in most cases, having a ninja close by was probably not a good thing, he opened his eye.<p>

His jaw dropped.

"St… Sensei?" he sputtered. "Wait… are you another thing that's not going to make sense in a minute?"

Storm Shadow smirked. "I'm real," he said. "Glad to hear you almost making sense again."

Billy swallowed. His heart was hammering, and he felt himself turning red in embarrassment over it. Something told him ninjas did not hold much with emotional displays.

"You'd say that even if you weren't," he muttered, more for something to say than anything else.

"Do I need to smack you in the head to prove I'm not an illusion?" Storm Shadow asked. His tone was deadly serious with just a touch of curiosity.

Billy snickered. "No, I think I'd rather just assume you're real for now. I'll reconsider if you sprout wings, just to warn you."

He paused. Storm Shadow waited, in part because it looked like the teenager still wanted to say something and in part because he didn't really know what to say himself.

"I had some really strange dreams," Billy finally said. He glanced around at the corpses. "They drugged me, didn't they?"

"They poisoned you," Storm Shadow corrected. "The antidote sometimes causes hallucinations and delirium; or more precisely, the combination of the poison and the antidote sometimes does."

Billy's eye widened. "Are you saying I was awake?"

Storm Shadow nodded. "As nonsensical as you were, you don't need to be embarrassed. It wasn't your fault."

"What did I do?"

"Well, you did assault that lamp in the corner, and accused it of murdering someone."

The teenager groaned and buried his face in his knees. Storm Shadow chuckled.

"Do you know why these people were after you?" he said. "They thought you were someone else, the son of some crime lord called Tony Vizzori; nothing to do with Cobra at all. You're obviously a true Arashikage: incapable of staying out of trouble."

Billy snorted, his head out of his knees again but not quite meeting the ninja's eyes. "I wish," he muttered.

Storm Shadow smiled at the response. "You are," he said. "Family is not limited to blood. Snake Eyes could not be any more my brother were he my twin."

Billy swallowed. "Does he have any blood relatives?" he asked. "Do you?" he added as if in an afterthought.

Tommy kept his face carefully neutral. "Does it matter?" he said. "He'd still be my brother if he had fifty others."

Billy finally looked straight at him, smiling. "You haven't changed much. Are you sure you're not still brainwashed? You don't still believe in the Order, right?"

"Nope," he replied, grinning. "You might eventually get a new brother who does, if he ever comes to his senses and agrees to train, but he also believed Snake Eyes was a werewolf, so…" he trailed off and shrugged.

Billy blinked and chuckled. "Do I get to hear the story behind that?"

"Of course. We can start right now, it will give us something to do while we wait for our ride to the Pit."

Billy's face suddenly looked like that of a kid who'd just been told he was going to Disney World. "We're going to the Pit? For how long? I figured you'd just drive me somewhere!"

"Long enough for a few lessons," Tommy replied, smiling. "Now about that story… You see, Snake Eyes has a pet wolf in the Sierras…"

Fin

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

There you go, General Zargon, I hope the above is satisfactory!

If the line 'Long enough for a few lessons' seems familiar to you, it may be because you remember Obake Obaasan saying something very similar to Alcazar in the seventh issue of the Storm Shadow miniseries. I think Tommy would have similar views on making the most of whatever time you have.

Thank you for reading, and please review!


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